A documentary entering select theaters this weekend is getting a lot of praise from critics.
“Breaking a Monster,” which follows a heavy metal band as its members sign with a major record label and are suddenly thrust into the music business, currently has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 100 percent.
What makes “Breaking” unique is its subjects. The band — Unlocking the Truth — is comprised of three African American seventh graders from Brooklyn, New York.
Reviews have praised “Breaking” for honestly looking at how the preteens deal with their newfound opportunity, de-romanticising what it’s like to get such a big break.
Director Luke Meyer spoke with TheWrap about what it took to make his real world, coming-of-age movie and why the band members are both proud of and bit embarrassed by it.
TheWrap: You first made a short film about Unlocking the Truth that gained some notoriety. What made you decide to do a full-length documentary?
Luke Meyer: The short was a much different scenario. The band didn’t have all these larger opportunities in front of them at the time. It never clicked for us until we met Alan [Sacks] and we saw here’s this interesting thing happening with the band. They were this DIY, self-made internet thing and Alan is a career veteran who came in as their manager; he had success with “Welcome Back, Kotter” [a television show starring John Travolta in the late 1970s]. There was an interesting cross-conflict going on there. Alan had ideas — some of which the band wanted and some had nothing to do with what they wanted. That’s a big part of what led us to it. But we wouldn’t take the project on without creative independence from the band or the record label … We were insistent that we were not going to make a promotional documentary.
Watch this clip from “Breaking a Monster,” exclusively on TheWrap:
Since the film revolves around children, were there any extra precautions taken or sensitivities?
I think the band feels the same way: There’s a very healthy and clear line of communication between me and the guys in the band. It’s very different from making other documentaries with adults … in that this required a lot of arrangement. Like my interview with Jarad [Dawkins] at home. I had to check if it was OK with his mom. There were a lot of schedules and logistics. It was important to establish a sense of trust with the guys in the band and their parents trusting us. It’s a tricky situation.
What surprised you the most as you made the film?
Different pages that turn in the movie and what they went through almost felt scripted. They had that amazing show at Coachella and got carried off into the crowd, crowd surfing. All that stuff was happening and if I was writing the story and not making a documentary, I probably would imagine similar scenes.
What does the band think of the film?
People are screaming out their name to take pictures at premieres and it’s embarrassing to them. They’re two years older now and they’re only going to get older. It’s a picture of them in a certain period of their life so I think that’s always going to be a part of how they feel. The other part is they feel the film treats their experience very honestly. They feel like it’s a good picture of what they went through that year. That feels great for me to hear that because the whole approach to the film to tell it as close as possible to their experience — and not just a series of stepping stones.
How is Unlocking the Truth’s career going now?
School is out now, so they’re on summer break. They do go to school. Around the time filming ended marked the beginning of a long hiatus. They were not able to release their music and it involved them getting out of their Sony contract. They were having issues with their contract while we were at South by Southwest premiering the movie. That made it hard for them to book shows. So they didn’t do a whole lot of touring last year. The big issue was their music wasn’t being released. They were being sidelined a bit. It was frustrating and they realized it was going to continue to get worse. All that led to them finally being able to release their music. They released their record last Friday and it has started off really well.
Did you at any point feel like the boys were being used?
The real answer is that anyone seeking professional management, or signing a contract with a label or distribution, the agreement is that someone else who is going to make money off of them. Part of that is exploitation but part of that is just how those things work — to receive the benefit of further reach and working with a bigger company. That’s part of what happens all the time. It feels incredibly present and palpable when you look at a story of kids in that situation. But actually a similar situation would happening with adults. This isn’t to say there are child performers who get horribly exploited beyond the normal scenario, but that’s not what happened here. The parents were a good interface to be protective of them. What you see here and what you feel in this is the standard of the situation. I’m glad because it helps tell story of what this process of them entering into the professional music world is. It’s a more universal story. This is what it means to step into the palace where art and commerce meet.